Every once in a while I score a huge dresser like this one! I was fortunate enough to have someone tag me in a post on a local FB selling site!! Luckily I was the first one to comment🙌🏻,usually never happens! I always wind up being the 10th person to comment.. NEXT!!

Anyway.. it was kind of hard to settle on a color. I knew I wanted a lighter color. I thought I was gonna go with white BUT choose gray! I try and find a paint to use the paint I have on hand first and I didnt have any white.. how could I NOT have white??!!

Gray it was and I couldn’t wait to get into it! First it needed a HUGE cleaning. Lots of furniture polish on this Mac daddy! TSP and lots of sanding to make the surface able to grab the paint was needed. I ALWAYS take out all the drawers and clean the inside as well.. you would be surprised how much dust collects in there! Crazy!!!

2 coats of gray are on! Look at that top.. what to do, what to do?! It’s cherry colored and beat up a little. I looked to Pinterest, which is my decorating bible, for ideas! I wanted a wood top, so I found the perfect idea!

I again turned to my arsenal of products to see what I had to achieve this look! I have all kinds of chalk paint, milk paint, glazes, waxed.. I use them all. I’m not married to any brand, definitely not an Annie Sloan snob.. I do use it and love it but I don’t say that all other options are inferior!

I grabbed my little sample pot of Annie Sloans Coco and heavily drybrushed! Following that I drybrushed lightly some gray chalk paint! It looked good then but it wasn’t the wood color I wanted just yet! General finishes gel stain in antique walnut went on top and it completely changed the look!! IT WAS THE LOOK I WANTED!! Yippee!!!

The rest of the piece was heavily distressed, clear and dark wax applied! It’s amazing what some dark wax will do! I love how it dramatically changes the look! I love it!!

The final result complete with the original hardware!! Thanks for stopping by!!

Anytime I have a light dresser like this one to start with… I think to myself… well, I won’t distress this one since I don’t want that lighter wood color coming through. Now I have to decide which color will look best on something that doesn’t have a lot of detail but will still have a WOW factor when I’m done!

A deep blue will do the trick! Annie Sloan chalk paint has a beautiful blue. Aubusson Blue– It’s not as dark as navy but not like a teal either.. It’s perfect!

Painted 2 coats of the blue followed by a clear polycrylic. The clear coat alone darkens the color but I wanted an antiqued look, something with some age! My go to dark wax is Miss Mustard Seeds Antiquing wax. It was looking better but I still wanted a little darker and a little “dirtier” around the edges of all the drawers. I rubbed on some gel stain, a little at a time until I got the look I wanted!

I didn’t want to paint the entire piece with the blue, so I sanded down the top and used General Finishes Antique Walnut gel stain. Two coats of clear wax applied for protection!
I forgot to mention the hardware… all original hardware that was a pewter color. I applied some gold gilding wax.. Rub ‘n Buff is a great product. I just applied a tiny bit with my finger and just rubbed it on lightly, not perfect so it looks like an old patina! I still wanted a little something on top of that.. I’ve always LOVED the old green/turquoise patina on metals that have been outside… I found this metallic turquoise wax and applied it sparingly.. Now it’s done!!

Finding console/entryway pieces like this are also a good score! Who doesn’t want to update their foyer, add something behind the sofa or a hallway?!

Certain pieces call for a certain color! Black was the perfect color for this, classic and simple! And those carvings in between the drawers HAD to go… some plaster will easily cover that up… several coats of plaster and lots of sanding!

General Finishes milk paint is usually my go to paint for renewing my pieces. It goes on real smooth and it distresses quite nicely! I really like to use a scraper and scrape the edges so it’s a little more… not perfect!!

I recently found a new wax to use to seal my pieces. Sometimes I use a waterbased polycrylic to seal and sometimes I use wax…kinda depends on the piece and look I’m going for. It’s a carnuaba wax and I’m liking! The finish is like glass!

Have you ever said to yourself… I can do that?! I can make that? I did… ALOT.

I started this journey of decorating and painting over 6 years ago. I was living in a cookie cutter house in a cookie cutter neighborhood! I wanted to change the builder grade look to that house and managed to paint the bathroom cabinets black before we moved out!

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About me!

Hi there! My name is AMY and I am a furniture painter, decorator, DIY'er, and lover of ALL things related to farmhouse decor!
I love to transform old, old dated pieces into fresh, bright, new pieces for your home! I've dabbled in some design when remodeling my kitchen and bathrooms and now I would love to help you with your decorating choices!